By Kemo Cham
The Sierra Leone government said it has averted a plot to illegally manufacture bomb in the country.
An operation mounted by joint security forces over the weekend and later in the week led to the seizure of an array of bomb making materials and illegal drugs, Information Minister Cherno Bah said in a statement on Friday evening.
He disclosed that seven people had been detained, pending further investigation.
Among those detained, according to the statement, are people of Middle Eastern and Sierra Leonean identities.
Mr Bah first broke the news in a scheduled appearance on state broadcaster, SLBC, where he reassured the public of the tight security tacks to the work of intelligence and security officials.
“We don’t know if their target was here or elsewhere or who they are connected to, but the police are investigating now and we have the suspects under control,” he said.
In the statement subsequently released, Mr said intelligence officials had uncovered the plot as early as in March, 2023, when the suspects found to be trying to import the bomb making materials into the country.
After months of surveillance, a joint operation of intelligence, police and military forces was conducted on July 7, leading to the seizure of some of the illegal materials. The raids targeted several locations in an around the Western Area, it said.
The materials seized included 12.5kg empty gas cylinders, high grade trinitrotoluene, detonators and firing devises, timers and other components disguised as powered laundry detergents and soap, the statement revealed.
A further search on the premise of one of the detained suspects on Tuesday, July 9, resulted in the discovery of over 7 million Captagon pills, an amphetamine-type stimulant widely used by the Islamist terrorist group, ISIS and fighters in Syria, said Bah.
He said the estimated street value of the seized drugs reportedly amounted to USD94, 155, 200.
The public has been urged to convey information on any suspected activity related to this event.
